HOUSTON – For a man who has spent the better part of his UFC career answering questions as to why he doesn’t do something to improve his portly physique, heavyweight contender Roy Nelson is surprisingly unreceptive to observations that he might have actually slimmed down.

“That’s what happens when you get depressed,” Nelson told USA TODAY Sports. “When I get depressed, I don’t eat.”

Nelson, 37, is notoriously quick-witted, and it’s often impossible to discern actual revelations from deadpan schtick. But “Big Country” seems to be pulling back the curtain a bit when he discusses his preparation for Saturday’s “UFC 166: Velasquez vs. dos Santos III” event.

“This has actually probably been the crappiest camp I’ve ever had, so it is what it is,” Nelson said.

His lead boxing coach, Jeff Mayweather (Floyd’s uncle), recently was hospitalized after an apparent energy drink-induced health scare. A few of Nelson’s top training partners were also forced out, he said.

“I still had some of my core guys, but I lost (Muhammed) Lawal,” Nelson said. “I lost Ryan Martinez. … He broke his hand. It was one of those camps where anything that possibly could’ve happened, happened. You just deal with it. I’ve been in the game long enough to know what I’m supposed to do and put the work in.”

This fight is an important one for Nelson, who looks to rebound from a disappointing June loss to Stipe Miocic. The result ended Nelson’s three-fight winning streak, all by knockouts. Currently ranked No. 13, Nelson is at a career crossroads and probably needs an impressive win to please often-critical UFC execs, including company boss Dana White.

Nelson said he never considered withdrawing from the bout until he could focus on the challenges ahead.

“That’s how other fighters work,” he said. “All the other fighters are like, ‘Oh, my big toe hurts.’ They worry about all that other stuff. People want to pay to see me fight, and I’m going to put on a show.

“The UFC, that’s what they expect of me, to put on a show and … fight. I come to fight every time.”

Cormier is a 6-1 favorite, which he says will be his last at heavyweight before dropping down to 205 pounds. Meanwhile, Nelson won’t reveal where he expects to tip the scales Saturday, even laughing off repeated attempts to guess his weight.

“I think I’m one of the only fighters that goes, ‘Woe is me, and at the end of the day it’s my fault that it’s not working,'” Nelson said. “It’s not, ‘Oh, it’s my coach.’

“I could do the woe-is-me thing, but at the end of the day, if everybody knew half the crap that everybody has gone through — what pains and aches — they’d be like, ‘Dude, why do you fight?’ And honestly, I don’t know — besides that I love it.”